


Different Does Not Always Equal Lonely

by Karamelkat2141



Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Angst, Gen, Isolation, Loneliness, School, lonely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 16:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3775105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karamelkat2141/pseuds/Karamelkat2141
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mark was different. Lonely. Never good enough. No one could understand him. Perhaps no one ever would. But it sure felt nice when someone made an effort. </p><p>COMPLETED</p>
            </blockquote>





	Different Does Not Always Equal Lonely

There is not one person on this earth who has never felt lonely. It is human nature and it creates the drive to seek human companionship. Loneliness is an emotional state. It evokes feelings of depression, worthlessness, and inadequacy. But when this emotional state becomes too strong to ignore, to "shove under the rug", it manifests in other ways. Someone may start lying to receive attention from the ones they care about, physical pain such as headaches and stomachaches may ensue, or self-isolation to protect oneself from getting attached to someone else may take place. Other times, loneliness creates a pit that only certain, sometimes surprising, people can fill. 

“Hello.” 

Mark turned, eyes blinking up at the strong voice behind him. “Hi.”

The day, the week, the month, the year, had been hard for Mark. His parents never understood him, so he stayed confined to his room where he could listen to people put words and beats to what he was feeling. He never spoke a word in the house except to mutter a “Yes, ma’am,” or a “No, sir.” Being polite had no deeper meaning than to avoid offending someone's pride. He hadn’t any friends, his mind whirring too complexly and too quickly to be able to articulate anything coherently in a way others would understand. So there he stayed inside his mind, the prize every true introvert envied. 

“I don’t know if you know me. I know I don’t know you, so I’ll go ahead and introduce myself. I’m Blair. Mind if I sit here?”

Surprised to see someone speaking to him, Mark let a small smile tug at the corner of his lips; it had been a while. But as soon as it appeared, he forced it away. This person would leave as soon as they realized he was different. That’s what always happened. 

Mark just shrugged and looked around the classroom, putting his book aside to get ready for the class to begin.

“What’re you reading?” Blair looked over with a slightly tilted head, her wavy brown hair falling over her eyes before she swept it back again. She reached over and tapped the orange-covered book.

Picking the book up in his hands, Mark handed it over. “The Catcher in the Rye. J.D. Salinger.” He didn’t offer any other information like how it was his favorite due to the 1950s writing style.  People didn’t care.

The book was a light weight in her hands, the edges of the pages tanned with use. It had scuff-marks and some creases, but as she flipped through, she noticed none of the words on the pages had blemishes. She gave the book back.

“Looks interesting. What do you think about it?”

Mark was taken aback by the simple phrase.

“Why would you care?” he asked tersely. He looked down at the table and really hoped the teacher would start the lecture soon. Stop this now.

Blair replied easily, seemingly ignoring the bitter reply. “Because you’re different. Everyone I’ve met is the same. Talking about the dance this weekend, who’s going to date who, and don’t get me wrong, idle chat is fun, but after a while, I want something more to talk about, you know? Something that means something. I want to observe; I want to observe what makes people tick. If I can figure that out, then I can form theories to apply and use to help other people and that’s the main goal. For example. Ever heard of the beetle in the box philosophical experiment?”

Mark just looked at her incredulously. Was this girl serious? Any girl he had ever known was either interested in her grades and getting the perfect essay, or going out to parties and getting wasted. But Blair, she was different. In fact, she wanted what he did. He wanted to be able to express himself to someone that would understand, or at least try to understand. And here Blair was, offering her time and ears as someone who would listen, _really listen _.__ He blinked a moment before any water could collect in his eyes. 

After a moment of thinking, Mark looked up and nodded. He had read about it in his older brother’s psychology textbook. People in a room were asked to imagine they had a box and inside that box, a beetle. Now, the purpose was to describe the other peoples’ beetles. The challenge though, was that no one was able to truly understand or describe someone else's beetle perfectly because it was the figment of someone else's imagination. They could only infer about the beetle what the owner of said people told them. This experiment was used to prove that no one could ever truly understand another person's ideas or thought processes. 

Blair smiled at Mark’s nod, taking that as a yes. “Good. Well, I know it’s a little early to ask, but could I sit with you at lunch today?”

Mark didn’t know why, but he wanted to take a chance on her. She was intelligent and delved deeper than anyone he had ever met, gave more sustenance to the conversation. And even if things went south, he was pretty sure those few moments would be worth it.

He nodded as an answer and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as the teacher came into the room with a bellowing, “Bonjour.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually a writing prompt for some practice in an English class I'm taking. I based the relationship off Alan and Christopher's relationship in The Imitation Game, honestly. One of my all-time favorite movies. Any comments, suggestions, or questions are greatly appreciated! Kudos if you enjoyed. Thanks!


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